As the international system changes after the Cold War, the relevance of nation states is increasingly called into question, particularly in the context of the process of European Integration. The European Union constitutes a new form of large political entity which is difficult to understand even for its practitioners. Usually it is maintained that it constitutes a completely new phenomenon, a unique type of political regime. Most scholars of the EU proceed from this assumption describing in great detail the ever growing body of EU regulations and increasing number of European supranational institutions.
Increasingly, however, some scholars and even some politicians realize that a better understanding of the European integration process can be reached by putting it into a comparative perspective. Such comparisons could be historical, looking at previous union or imperial experiences, or theoretical, developing visions for Europe’s future. While unions are formed on a voluntary basis, empires are based on the exercise of different forms of political power. Both models are not mutually exclusive. Systems may for example originate as unions and develop into empires. Combining approaches of political theory, of the history of international relations. and of modern comparative political science, this course will try to look into and discuss these and related questions. Included are site visits and group work with Austrian students highlighting Central European political experiences.
Prerequisites:
None
Learning outcomes:
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
See a broad comparative context of the European Union including historical, present day and utopian concepts of large political systems.
Describe and articulate the rise and decline of the nation state in Europe.
Describe and articulate models for the future political developments in Europe, including different concepts of union, empire, and superstate.
Analyze both actual and potential aspects of changes and transformations in the European Union.
Method of presentation:
Lectures, class discussions, group work and project with Austrian students.
Required work and form of assessment:
class participation and oral presentation on project (15%), written project report (15%), midterm (35%), final exam (35%)
N.B. Group work and project: small groups of IES Abroad and Austrian Students select a course- related topic, research it, and present it to the group orally as part of class discussion during the semester. Each student then submits a written report of the group project work.
content:
The presentation of the content is cumulative; the introduction establishes the context within which the discussion of regime concepts progresses, with comparisons and contrasts building on the cumulative basis of previously presented material. The different models of political regimes are analyzed and compared on the basis of history, political culture, political institutions and forces, and system performance.
TOPICS AND REQUIRED READINGS:
(References to the Recommended Readings list).
Introduction (week 1 – 2)
1. Ups and Downs of the European Nation State
Cooper, Breaking of Nations, part 1
Dyson, State Tradition, chs 1-3
Paul et al., The Nation State in Question, part IV
2. Origins and Growth of the European Union
McCormick, Understanding, ch 1-3
Hix/ Hoyland, The Political System, chs 1, 2, 13
4. Unsuccessfull Unions
Gligorow, Why do Countries Break Up?, chs 1-3
Macartney, The Habsburg Empire, chs 14-18
Varieties of Empires (week 5 – 6)
5. Traditional Empires
Münkler, Empires,, chs 1-3
Zagorin, Thucydides – An Introduction, chs 1/ 6
Kelly, The Roman Empire, chs 1-4 and 7
Evans, The Holy Roman Empire, chs 1-4, 18
6. Modern Empires
Münkler, Empires,, chs 4-6
Samson, The British Empire, part 3
Howe, Empire, chs 1, 2, 5
Visions for Europe (week 7 – 9)
7. European Superstate
Morgan, European Superstate, chs 1, 5, 7
Laughland, Tainted Source, chs I-III
9. Postmodern Empire
Zielonka, Europe – introduction, chs 1, 2, 6 and conclusions
Majone, Dilemmas, chs 1, 2, 9, 10
Conclusion (week 10)
10. The EU in Comparative Perspective
Fabbrini, Compound Democracies, chs 8-10
Checkel, European Identity, part II McCormick, Europeanism, chs 3, 6, 8
Required readings:
Beck and Grande, Cosmopolitan Europe, London: Polity 2007.
Checkel/ Katzenstein (eds.), European Identity, Cambridge UP 2009.
Cooper, The Breaking of Nations, New York: Atlantic Monthly 2003.
Dyson, The State Tradition in Western Europe, London 2009.
Evans et al. (eds.), The Holy Roman Empire, Oxford UP 2011.
Fabbrini, Compound Democracies, Oxford: UP 2010.
Gerlich, Unions in Comparison, in: Reinisch/ Kriebaum (eds.), The Law of Intenational Relations, Utrecht: Eleven 2007.
Gligorow, Why do Countries Break Up? The Case of Yugoslavia, Upsala 1994.
Goldstein, Constituting Federal Sovereignty, Baltimore: John Hopkins UP 2001.
Hix/ Hoyland, The Political System of the European Union, 3rd ed., London 2011.
Holenstein, The Republican Alternative. The Netherlands and Switzerland Compared, Amsterdam UP 2008.
Howe, Empire, Oxford: UP 2002.
Kelly, The Roman Empire, Oxford: UP 2006.
Laughland, The Tainted Source. The Undemocratic Origins of the European Idea, London 1998.
Macartney, The Habsburg Empire, London 2010.
Majone, Dilemmas of European Integration, Oxford UP 2009.
McCormick, Europeanism, Oxford UP 2010.
McCormick, Understanding the European Union, London: Palgrave 2005.
Morgan, The Idea of a European Superstate, Princeton UP 2005.
Münkler, Empires, London: Polity 2007.
Paul et al. (eds.), The Nation State in Question, Princeton UP 2003. Samson (ed.), The British Empire, Oxford UP 2001.
Siedentop, Democracy in Europe, London: Allen Lane 2000.
Zagorin, Thucydides – An Introduction for the Common Reader. Princeton: UP 2005.
Zielonka, Europe as Empire, Oxford: UP, 2006.
Recommended readings:
Barton, The War that still goes on, London: Oberon 2006.
Benson, Yugoslavia: A Concise History, London 2003.
Borchardt, The ABC of European Union Law, Luxembourg 2010.
Daalder, State Formation, Parties and Democracy, London 2011.
Duff, Saving the European Union, London: Shoehorn 2009.
Etzioni, Political Unification Revisited. On building Suranational Communities, New York 2001.
Fabbrini (ed.), Democracy and Federalism in the European Union and the United States, London: Routledge 2005.
Falkner et al., Complying with Europe, Cambridge UP 2005.
Finer, The History of Government, 3 vols, Oxford UP 1997 ( Ottoman Empire, pp 1162-1209, state pp. 61ff.)
Gerlich, Culture versus Structure: The Roots of Foreign Policy, in: Mania et al. (eds.), US Foreign Policy, Krakow: Jagellonian UP 2007.
Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, London: Folio 1995.
Goodwin, Lords of the Horizon, London 2009.
Hardt/ Negri, Empire, Cambridge: Harvard 2000.
Headley, The Europeanization of the World, Princeton UP 2008.
Hix, What’s Wrong with the European Union and How to Fix it, London: Polity 2008.
Kagan, Of Paradise and Power, New York: Vintage 2004.
Kautsky, The Politics of Aristocratic Empires, New Brunswick: Transaction 1997.
Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries, London 1979.
Leonard, Why Europe will Run the 21st Century, New York: Public Affairs 2005.
Maier, Among Empires, Harvard UP 2006.
Mania et al.(eds.), US Foreign Policy – Theory, Mechanism, Practice, Krakow: UP 2007.
Marshall, The Making and Unmaking of Empires, Oxford UP 2005.
Mattli, The Logic of Regional Integration: Europe and Beyond, Cambridge UP 1999.
McKay, Designing Europe, Oxford UP 2001.
Menon, Europe – The State of the Union, London: Atlantic 2008. Nicolaidis/ Howse (eds.), The Federal Vision, Oxford: UP 2001.
Piper, The Major Nation States in the European Union, New York: Pearson 2005.
Poggi, The Development of the Modern State, Stanford UP 1978.
Reid, The United States of Europe, New York: Penguin 2004.
Rietbergen, Europe: A Cultural History, London: Routledge 1998. Risse, A Community of Europeans?, Cornell UP 2010.
Rosamund, Theories of European Integration, New York: St. Martin’s Press 2000.
Rublack (ed.), A Concise Comparison to History, Oxford UP 2011.
Schmidt, Democracy in Europe, Oxford UP 2006.
Strange, The Retreat of the State, Cambridge UP 2000.
Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, Avon: Folio 1994.
Tiersky/ Jones, Europe Today, 3rd ed., New York 2007.
Wells, A Brief History of History, Guilford: Lyons 2008.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Peter Gerlich studied law and political science in Vienna, New York, and Munich (MCL Columbia University, Dr of Law, University of Vienna). He served as professor of political science in Braunschweig/ Germany and at the University of Vienna, where he retired in 2008 but continues to teach. He was guest professor at Stanford University, Smith College, the University of New Orleans and the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and served as Dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Vienna.
Recently, he published articles on U.S. foreign policy and on the European Union.
As the international system changes after the Cold War, the relevance of nation states is increasingly called into question, particularly in the context of the process of European Integration. The European Union constitutes a new form of large political entity which is difficult to understand even for its practitioners. Usually it is maintained that it constitutes a completely new phenomenon, a unique type of political regime. Most scholars of the EU proceed from this assumption describing in great detail the ever growing body of EU regulations and increasing number of European supranational institutions.
Increasingly, however, some scholars and even some politicians realize that a better understanding of the European integration process can be reached by putting it into a comparative perspective. Such comparisons could be historical, looking at previous union or imperial experiences, or theoretical, developing visions for Europe’s future. While unions are formed on a voluntary basis, empires are based on the exercise of different forms of political power. Both models are not mutually exclusive. Systems may for example originate as unions and develop into empires. Combining approaches of political theory, of the history of international relations. and of modern comparative political science, this course will try to look into and discuss these and related questions. Included are site visits and group work with Austrian students highlighting Central European political experiences.
None
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
Lectures, class discussions, group work and project with Austrian students.
class participation and oral presentation on project (15%), written project report (15%), midterm (35%), final exam (35%)
N.B. Group work and project: small groups of IES Abroad and Austrian Students select a course- related topic, research it, and present it to the group orally as part of class discussion during the semester. Each student then submits a written report of the group project work.
The presentation of the content is cumulative; the introduction establishes the context within which the discussion of regime concepts progresses, with comparisons and contrasts building on the cumulative basis of previously presented material. The different models of political regimes are analyzed and compared on the basis of history, political culture, political institutions and forces, and system performance.
TOPICS AND REQUIRED READINGS:
(References to the Recommended Readings list).
Introduction (week 1 – 2)
1. Ups and Downs of the European Nation State
Cooper, Breaking of Nations, part 1
Dyson, State Tradition, chs 1-3
Paul et al., The Nation State in Question, part IV
2. Origins and Growth of the European Union
McCormick, Understanding, ch 1-3
Hix/ Hoyland, The Political System, chs 1, 2, 13
Union Experiences (week 3 – 4)
3. Successful Unions
Fabbrini, Compound Democracies, chs 1-3
Holenstein, The Republican Alternative, chs 1-4
Goldstein, Constituting, pp 1-66, 99-160
4. Unsuccessfull Unions
Gligorow, Why do Countries Break Up?, chs 1-3
Macartney, The Habsburg Empire, chs 14-18
Varieties of Empires (week 5 – 6)
5. Traditional Empires
Münkler, Empires,, chs 1-3
Zagorin, Thucydides – An Introduction, chs 1/ 6
Kelly, The Roman Empire, chs 1-4 and 7
Evans, The Holy Roman Empire, chs 1-4, 18
6. Modern Empires
Münkler, Empires,, chs 4-6
Samson, The British Empire, part 3
Howe, Empire, chs 1, 2, 5
Visions for Europe (week 7 – 9)
7. European Superstate
Morgan, European Superstate, chs 1, 5, 7
Laughland, Tainted Source, chs I-III
8. Cosmopolitanism
Beck and Grande, Cosmopolitan Europe, chs 1, 3, 8
Siedentop, Democracy, chs 1, 7, 11
9. Postmodern Empire
Zielonka, Europe – introduction, chs 1, 2, 6 and conclusions
Majone, Dilemmas, chs 1, 2, 9, 10
Conclusion (week 10)
10. The EU in Comparative Perspective
Fabbrini, Compound Democracies, chs 8-10
Checkel, European Identity, part II McCormick, Europeanism, chs 3, 6, 8
Beck and Grande, Cosmopolitan Europe, London: Polity 2007.
Checkel/ Katzenstein (eds.), European Identity, Cambridge UP 2009.
Cooper, The Breaking of Nations, New York: Atlantic Monthly 2003.
Dyson, The State Tradition in Western Europe, London 2009.
Evans et al. (eds.), The Holy Roman Empire, Oxford UP 2011.
Fabbrini, Compound Democracies, Oxford: UP 2010.
Gerlich, Unions in Comparison, in: Reinisch/ Kriebaum (eds.), The Law of Intenational Relations, Utrecht: Eleven 2007.
Gligorow, Why do Countries Break Up? The Case of Yugoslavia, Upsala 1994.
Goldstein, Constituting Federal Sovereignty, Baltimore: John Hopkins UP 2001.
Hix/ Hoyland, The Political System of the European Union, 3rd ed., London 2011.
Holenstein, The Republican Alternative. The Netherlands and Switzerland Compared, Amsterdam UP 2008.
Howe, Empire, Oxford: UP 2002.
Kelly, The Roman Empire, Oxford: UP 2006.
Laughland, The Tainted Source. The Undemocratic Origins of the European Idea, London 1998.
Macartney, The Habsburg Empire, London 2010.
Majone, Dilemmas of European Integration, Oxford UP 2009.
McCormick, Europeanism, Oxford UP 2010.
McCormick, Understanding the European Union, London: Palgrave 2005.
Morgan, The Idea of a European Superstate, Princeton UP 2005.
Münkler, Empires, London: Polity 2007.
Paul et al. (eds.), The Nation State in Question, Princeton UP 2003. Samson (ed.), The British Empire, Oxford UP 2001.
Siedentop, Democracy in Europe, London: Allen Lane 2000.
Zagorin, Thucydides – An Introduction for the Common Reader. Princeton: UP 2005.
Zielonka, Europe as Empire, Oxford: UP, 2006.
Barton, The War that still goes on, London: Oberon 2006.
Benson, Yugoslavia: A Concise History, London 2003.
Borchardt, The ABC of European Union Law, Luxembourg 2010.
Daalder, State Formation, Parties and Democracy, London 2011.
Duff, Saving the European Union, London: Shoehorn 2009.
Etzioni, Political Unification Revisited. On building Suranational Communities, New York 2001.
Fabbrini (ed.), Democracy and Federalism in the European Union and the United States, London: Routledge 2005.
Falkner et al., Complying with Europe, Cambridge UP 2005.
Finer, The History of Government, 3 vols, Oxford UP 1997 ( Ottoman Empire, pp 1162-1209, state pp. 61ff.)
Gerlich, Culture versus Structure: The Roots of Foreign Policy, in: Mania et al. (eds.), US Foreign Policy, Krakow: Jagellonian UP 2007.
Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, London: Folio 1995.
Goodwin, Lords of the Horizon, London 2009.
Hardt/ Negri, Empire, Cambridge: Harvard 2000.
Headley, The Europeanization of the World, Princeton UP 2008.
Hix, What’s Wrong with the European Union and How to Fix it, London: Polity 2008.
Kagan, Of Paradise and Power, New York: Vintage 2004.
Kautsky, The Politics of Aristocratic Empires, New Brunswick: Transaction 1997.
Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries, London 1979.
Leonard, Why Europe will Run the 21st Century, New York: Public Affairs 2005.
Maier, Among Empires, Harvard UP 2006.
Mania et al.(eds.), US Foreign Policy – Theory, Mechanism, Practice, Krakow: UP 2007.
Marshall, The Making and Unmaking of Empires, Oxford UP 2005.
Mattli, The Logic of Regional Integration: Europe and Beyond, Cambridge UP 1999.
McKay, Designing Europe, Oxford UP 2001.
Menon, Europe – The State of the Union, London: Atlantic 2008. Nicolaidis/ Howse (eds.), The Federal Vision, Oxford: UP 2001.
Piper, The Major Nation States in the European Union, New York: Pearson 2005.
Poggi, The Development of the Modern State, Stanford UP 1978.
Reid, The United States of Europe, New York: Penguin 2004.
Rietbergen, Europe: A Cultural History, London: Routledge 1998. Risse, A Community of Europeans?, Cornell UP 2010.
Rosamund, Theories of European Integration, New York: St. Martin’s Press 2000.
Rublack (ed.), A Concise Comparison to History, Oxford UP 2011.
Schmidt, Democracy in Europe, Oxford UP 2006.
Strange, The Retreat of the State, Cambridge UP 2000.
Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, Avon: Folio 1994.
Tiersky/ Jones, Europe Today, 3rd ed., New York 2007.
Wells, A Brief History of History, Guilford: Lyons 2008.
Peter Gerlich studied law and political science in Vienna, New York, and Munich (MCL Columbia University, Dr of Law, University of Vienna). He served as professor of political science in Braunschweig/ Germany and at the University of Vienna, where he retired in 2008 but continues to teach. He was guest professor at Stanford University, Smith College, the University of New Orleans and the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and served as Dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Vienna.
Recently, he published articles on U.S. foreign policy and on the European Union.